Hyneria

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Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs from the Devonian

title: "Hyneria" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tristichopteridae", "prehistoric-lobe-finned-fish-genera", "late-devonian-sarcopterygians", "devonian-sarcopterygians-of-africa", "devonian-sarcopterygians-of-north-america", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1968", "famennian-genera", "devonian-south-africa", "devonian-pennsylvania"] description: "Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs from the Devonian" topic_path: "geography/south-africa" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyneria" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs from the Devonian ::

| fossil_range = | image = Hyneria.jpg | image_caption = Life restoration of H. lindae | image2 = Gessetal2023 Hyneria udlezinye skull.png | image2_caption = Skull reconstruction of H. udlezinye | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Hyneria | authority = Thomson, 1968 | type_species = Hyneria lindae | type_species_authority = Thomson, 1968 | subdivision_ranks = Other species | subdivision = * H. udlezinye Gess and Ahlberg, 2023

Hyneria is a genus of large prehistoric predatory lobe-finned fish which lived in fresh water during the Famennian stage of the Devonian period.

Etymology

The genus name Hyneria is a reference to the village of Hyner, Pennsylvania, near where the first specimen was found. The species epithet H. lindae is derived from the name of the wife of Keith Stewart Thomson, who described this fish.

Description

Hyneria was a large fish. H. lindae is estimated around 2.5 - 3 m in total length. An isolated cleithrum AM 6545 likely belongs to an individual of at least 2.7 m in length. The largest complete jaw reaches 38 cm, but there is much larger fragment possibly from a jaw about twice that length, although that specimen may belong to a rhizodont instead. Assuming this jaw fragment does pertain to Hyneria, and assuming proportions similar to more complete tristichopterids, it suggests H. lindae could possibly reach lengths up to 3.5 metres (11 ft). A second species, H. udlezinye, was once estimated as having a length of between 2 and before being described. However, the species description estimates that the largest specimen belongs to an animal about 3 m. Its skull had heavy, ornamented dermal bones and its lower jaw was relatively long and shallow. The teeth were stout, with those of the premaxilla forming fangs upwards of 2 in. Its body was covered by cycloid scales. It had large sensory canals to aid in detection of possible prey, as the freshwater environment it inhabited likely was murky and had low visibility.

Discovery

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Gessetal2023_Hyneria_udlezinye_holotype.png" caption="Holotype specimen of ''H. udlezinye''"] ::

The original fossils came from two localities in Pennsylvania, United States, one found between the villages of North Bend and Hyner and another near Emporium. They consisted of a disarticulated partial skull and fragments of the shoulder girdle. The fossils were found in the Catskill Formation of the Red Hill Shale, dating to the upper Devonian. These were the only remains known until 1993 when a renewed collecting effort discovered abundant new material. Hyneria is considered the largest and most common lobe-finned fish found in the Red Hill Shale. In February 2023 a second species of Hyneria, H. udlezinye, was named from remains discovered in the Waterloo Farm lagerstätte. These remains include the skull and shoulder girdle.

References

References

  1. (1968). "A new Devonian fish (Crossopterygii: Rhipidistia) considered in relation to the origin of the Amphibia". Postilla.
  2. (2018-05-04). "New description and diagnosis of Hyneria lindae (Sarcopterygii, Tristichopteridae) from the Upper Devonian Catskill Formation in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  3. (2013-03-06). "A Gigantic Sarcopterygian (Tetrapodomorph Lobe-Finned Fish) from the Upper Devonian of Gondwana (Eden, New South Wales, Australia)". PLOS ONE.
  4. Engelman, Russell K.. (March 2023). "A Devonian Fish Tale: A New Method of Body Length Estimation Suggests Much Smaller Sizes for Dunkleosteus terrelli (Placodermi: Arthrodira)". Diversity.
  5. (2020). "Estuarine fish and tetrapod evolution: insights from a Late Devonian (Famennian) Gondwanan estuarine lake and a southern African Holocene equivalent". Biological Reviews.
  6. (7 May 2018). "25 years of fossil collecting yields clearest picture of extinct 12-foot aquatic predator".
  7. (2019). "Long-bone development and life-history traits of the Devonian tristichopterid ''Hyneria lindae''". Cambridge University Press.
  8. "The Missing Link".
  9. (2023-02-22). "A high latitude Gondwanan species of the Late Devonian tristichopterid Hyneria (Osteichthyes: Sarcopterygii)". PLOS ONE.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

tristichopteridaeprehistoric-lobe-finned-fish-generalate-devonian-sarcopterygiansdevonian-sarcopterygians-of-africadevonian-sarcopterygians-of-north-americafossil-taxa-described-in-1968famennian-generadevonian-south-africadevonian-pennsylvania